Through the Looking Glass
by Pari
Summary: Their Latest Adventure leaves Doctor and Martha seeing Double Vision!
1. Chapter 1

He watched her out of the corner of his eye and noticed the way she fidgeted and paced about; when she wasn't pulling at her lip or hair, she would wring her hands. It all was too distracting for him.

"What's wrong Martha?" He asked calmly as he inputted the last of their coordinates.

"We're answering a distress signal." She answered as if it should have been obvious.

"Yes,"

"Doctor, the last time we answered a distress signal I nearly lost you." Her one-sided assessment of that situation brought a smile to the Doctor's face.

"As I recall Martha Jones, I nearly lost you too, and into a sun no less."

"Oh I knew you'd save me, you always do. I'm not so confident in my abilities to save you however."

"You've saved me plenty…more than you'll ever know," He said the last part in a mumble to himself. "Even better you've saved the world." He said loudly with a wide-eyed grin that got a smile from her.

"I did, didn't I?"

"Right you did, and you know you're going to be a full fledged doctor soon, so you'll be in the business of saving lives Martha."

"I know but that's not the same. It's different when it's someone you lov…care about." She quickly corrected and was happy when the Doctor acted as if he hadn't notice, though she knew he had. "I tend to freeze up a bit."

"I get inspired, determined even," The Doctor stated. "I tell you what, I promise you, you won't lose me." He said as he grasped her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"You can't promise that, you don't know what could happen."

"Have I ever broken a promise to you?" He asked and she shook her head no. "Ok then." Suddenly the Tardis jerked to a stop. "Let's go do what we can to help." Martha took a deep sigh and put on a brave smile. The Doctor lifted her hand and kissed it swiftly, and then tugged her towards the exit.

The door to the Tardis opened to a scene of a very busy city; bustling with people and transport vehicles. The Doctor and Martha walked out onto the sidewalk hand in hand and were instantly greeted by the people crossing their path. The first were two females who were identical.

"Greetings," One said.

"And Salutations," The other one added before they both walked on by. Then came two identical males.

"Greetings,"

"And salutations," They said respectively and then walked on.

"Ok this is creepy." Martha said as she looked around and took note that everyone seemed to have a double.

"Creepy, why creepy?" The Doctor asked with a look of confusion on his face.

"Have you ever seen Village of the Damned?" Martha inquired and he shook his head, before she could give any details someone called out to them.

"Doctor…Martha Jones!" They both turned in surprised, and saw a small robust man waving his hand at them and he fast approached. When the man finally reached them he began vigorously and excitedly shaking both their hands. "Oh Doctor, and Martha Jones, it is such an honor to meet you both…such an honor. I wasn't sure you'd get my beckon, the face of Boe mentioned that you'd be in this area around this time, and that you might be able to help us."

"The face of Boe?" Martha asked with a smile. "Is he here now?" She was eager to see him again and speaking with him now that she knew whom it really was.

"Oh no he's already left us. He did what he could and was able to stabilize things, but only temporarily. He said that he was sure you'd be able to help us."

"Good ole Jack." The Doctor said with a grin. "Right well let's see your problem…and you are?"

"Oh where are my manners. I am Alderman Zimmerman, and our labs are just in that building there." He said pointing to the skyscraper just across the street from where they stood.

* * *

"This place is fantastic!" The Doctor said as he ran from one piece of equipment to the next, looking like a kid in a candy shop His eyes grew large as he spotted a machine in the corner. He pulled out his glasses, putting them on to give the machine a thorough inspection. "Is this a Tri-Rill-Ion 33000?"

"Yes, it made the most delectable crab tea." Alderman Zimmerman said.

"Indeed as well as Taraki coffee, I haven't had that in ages." The Doctor said with a far off look on his face.

"So it's a gigantic coffee machine?" Martha asked not seeing what all the excitement was about.

"More or less." The Doctor replied.

"Oh but it hasn't worked in a long time." The Alderman stated.

"Then it's just junk, may I have it?" The Doctor asked.

"Of course if you'd like it. Though it's probably only good for scraps."

"Then it'll fit in nicely on the Tardis," Martha said with a giggle, which increased when she noticed the disapproving look the Doctor was giving her.

"Right, well our life chamber is just this way." The Alderman said, as he walked off. The Doctor and Martha threw questioning glances at each other as they followed. They entered the chamber, which was the full length of the entire building. Martha looked up in awe at what looked to be life pods, thousands of them filling the chamber room, from the very top of the building down to where they stood. There were people at the upper levels, entering them and leaving them systematically, like a well-oiled machine.

"What is all of this?" Martha asked.

"This is the life chamber, it is where we are all born and reborn."

"Reborn?" The Doctor asked as he looked down at the man curiously.

"Yes, here my people can come at the end of their life span to be reborn with a completely new lifespan."

"How is that done exactly?" The Doctor continued his inquiry.

"Genetic replication of course."

"Like cloning?" Martha threw of in disbelief.

"Yes. Over ten generations ago I, more accurately my lifespan of that generation, was helping to fight a deadly plague that was ravaging our planet. Millions died, and millions more would have died had we not come up with our lifespan regenerator. With it we could replicate good, healthy cells in our patients, from just one healthy cell. We saved their lives, but as time went by we realized that after a short time those 'new' cells too started to disintegrate, so we had to replicate them, and so on and so on."

"So in the end replication is needed as much as the air you breathe, in order to stay a live." Martha stated and The Alderman nodded.

"We have made great strides, we discovered that with a simple altercation to the regenerator we could replicate an entire being from the few good cells in a host, and this somehow extended the lifespan of both the host and the replicated, the process stabilized their cells somehow. So instead of needing replication every ten days, it extended to every ten years."

"That explains the double vision I was experiencing outside." Martha said and the Alderman chuckled at her use of words.

"The face of Boe mentioned your wit, and he was right it is very charming." Martha smiled at the compliment.

"So where is your double?" Martha asked.

"For those of us who were never infected by the plague, it wasn't needed. Our own cells were enough to sustain us."

"So how often do you replicate?"

"Oh, just the once, and for me that was as I said eons ago. We don't truly know 'our' expiration date."

"It seems like you've got it all figured out, so why do you need our help?" The Doctor finally spoke.

"It's no longer working, now at the end of the patient's lifespan the cells are disintegrating at a faster rate, much faster than we can replicate them. And in some cases our machines can't even pick up enough DNA to replicate." The Alderman said and as if for effect, a cart holding a dead body was rolled by them and out to the disposal area.

"So it's like when you take a drug, if you take it long enough, sooner or later your body will build a tolerance to it, and it won't work any longer. Unless you take a much higher dosage." Martha said and the Alderman nodded.

"Yes, but we are at the highest level now, any higher and the radiation would kill our patients. Which is why we need you Doctor." The Alderman said turning his full attention to the Doctor who was already scanning some of the machinery with his sonic screwdriver. "Can you help us?"

"Yes and no," The Doctor said. "I can fix your machine, but it will 'only' be able to regenerate your clones 'once', stabilizing them much as it has you. But there's nothing I can do for the hosts. What is the population?"

"Six billion, about 1.5 billion are people like myself who were never sick and only replicated once. The rest are the hosts and their clones."

"My God that's over two billion hosts at will die. There's nothing that can be done Doctor?" Martha asked her heart already aching at the knowledge. The Doctor shook his head.

"No, the remainder will have to come together, you lot can have children right?"

"Yes, there are some but not many. Most didn't see the need for children, they figured through our process they'd live forever, they could carry on their own lineage."

"I am sorry but that ideology will have to change if your people are to survive." The Doctor stated and the Alderman nodded his understanding.

"Whatever you can do Doctor, we will be most grateful."

"Oh, its just a simple alteration to your connectors," The Doctor said as he moved to one of the pods, opening it and standing inside of it. "It will have to be set manually in each pod. I'll set this one and you can use it as a prototype for the rest." He turned his screwdriver to the paneling in the back of the pod. Suddenly the door to the pod shut and a blinding blue light filled the inside of the pod, blocking the view of the Doctor behind the glass opening in the door of the pod.

"Doctor!" Martha scream and instinctively moved to go try and open the door, only to be held fast by the Alderman.

"No child if you get any closer you could burn up from the radiation." He stated and Martha stood helpless watching until it all ended as suddenly as it had began. The light filling the pod dispersed, replaced with smoke. The pod door opened and the smoke bellowed out.

"Doctor?" Martha cried out for him her tears already on the verge of spilling out. After a moment's pause, with Martha holding her breath, the Doctor finally appeared through the thick smoke, which he fanned away as he coughed a bit.

"I'm alright Martha," The Doctor said in what sounded to be an echo, and Martha and the Alderman looked from the Doctor in front of them to one emerging from a pod off to the right of them.

"Oh my God," Martha gasped out. "There are two of them." Both of the Doctor's, the host and the clone, stared at her and then turned and caught sight of each other.

"Blimey," The Doctor's said in unison.

* * *

"And just when I thought there was no one else like you," Martha threw out jokingly and got a big grin from both the Doctor's who were each inspection different machinery. She then turned to the one just behind her. "So what do we call you, then?" She asked and the Doctor paused and looked up at her.

"What do you mean?" He asked as the other Doctor paused as well and looked on, curious himself.

"Well you're not 'really' the Doctor…"

"Yes I am," He replied defensively and Martha had to roll her eyes and note that these two Doctor were similar in demeanors at least.

"I mean, you're a replica of the 'real' Doctor, a copy, not original, and for my own peace of mind we need to come up with something different to call you, yeah."

"And how can you be so sure that I'm the copy?" This Doctor asked which caused Martha to bunch her brow a bit and question exactly how it was that she did know. She then moved closer to him, grasped his face in both of her hands and pulled him down closer, after a few seconds she released him and then moved to the other Doctor, and did the same thing. She then smiled up at this Doctor.

"Hello Doctor," She said and smile and he smiled back and winked, thoroughly impressed that she knew it was 'really' him. "This is my Doctor," She said as she turned back to the other Doctor. "He has very old eyes, they're sad, cold and fierce all at once, but yours are like a child seeing the world for the first time, not at all hardened." The replica smiled and bounced on the balls of his feet.

"Oh you are good Martha Jones," He said and she threw him a grin.

"So what shall we call you then?" She asked again.

"How about John," The Replica said. "John Smith." This caused Martha to giggle.

"Wow, you just came up with that off the top of your head, didja?" She remarked sarcastically.

"Yeah, you like it?" John asked as he moved to stand in front of her. She reached up and straightened his tie a bit.

"It's definitely you." She replied and John suddenly lifted her up causing a squeal, and then twirled her around a bit, as they both laughed.

"You two are going to break something, knock it off." The Doctor said with an authoritative tone, very peeved at their behavior though he wasn't sure why. This ended the fun and John swiftly set Martha down and they both looked to the Doctor with apologetic eyes.

"Am I always such a joy kill?" John asked in a hushed voice and Martha giggled.

"Sorry Doctor, so what can we do to help?" Martha asked as she moved to stand beside the Doctor.

"I'll need you to help me run some tests, Martha." The Doctor replied.

"Tests, what tests?" John asked and he lifted his head a bit and shoved both hands inside his pockets. Although he had a suspicion as to what the Doctor was referring.

"Don't play dumb, you know it doesn't suit us. If all these reports the Alderman has provided me are any indication, then you and I are the same physically and mentally in every way. But yet Martha knew right off the bat exactly who we were. That tells me there are some things that are different, and I want to know what."

"Fine, but I don't want 'you' probing and prodding me, let Martha do it." John said with sly smile and a wink thrown at Martha, who stared at him with shocked, wide eyes as a smile played on her lips. John's blatant flirting stunned her and the Doctor both.

"You sure there's not some Jack Harkness in you?" The Doctor said as he set up the first testing machine.

"Well you do remember there was that one time when we…" John began to speak but the Doctor hurriedly cut him off.

"Shut it!" The Doctor warned with an arched brow and John smiled at him but didn't continue the tale and Martha just looked from one to the other curious to hear what had happened between the Doctor and Jack. "Lie down here." The Doctor instructed and John obliged. John lay upon the examining table with his hands across his chest, fingers interlocked, humming softly as he watched the Doctor and Martha run about setting the machine for their tests. When Martha came to his side to adjust the scanning machine overhead, John smiled warmly up at her.

"You are very beautiful." He said as he regarded her and she looked down at him momentarily at a loss for words.

"Thank you." She finally stammered out and then focused back on setting the controls as the Doctor had instructed.

"I never told you that before, did I." He asked rhetorically. "I wanted to tell you from the first time I laid eyes on you that day in the street." She looked down at him again a bit stunned by his words, and then shuffled her feet uncomfortably, which he noticed. "I've made you uncomfortable haven't I?" He asked as he reached out and grasped her hand.

"No, well yes. It's just weird hearing those words coming from…never mind." She said shaking off her thoughts. "We should be finished soon." She said with a smile completely changing the subject. John simply nodded as he returned her smile, never loosening his grip on her hand. The Doctor looked up and caught this interaction and it bothered him.

"Martha, are you finished setting the scanner?" The Doctor called out and Martha jumped a bit and quickly yanked her hand out of John's grasp as if she has been caught doing something bad.

"Yes Doctor," She replied as she hurried back to stand at the Doctor's side.

"John, this will be a bit loud and bright, but you must stay as still as possible." The Doctor said and John nodded his understanding. The Doctor flipped the machine on, and intensely watched John. "I don't want you hanging out with him too much," The Doctor spoke to Martha, but never took his eyes from John. Martha stared at him in confusion as the Doctor continued. "I don't think I like the way he looks at you and touches you." These words brought a smirk to Martha's face.

"Why, are you jealous?" She asked playfully.

"Don't be ridiculous," He snapped as he looked over at her with a seemingly angry and disgusted expression and Martha flinched, but quickly recover, determined not to let him see that he had hurt her deeply. "That is not me Martha, it may look like me, but it's not me. You're my responsibility and I don't want you to get hurt."

"Your responsibility?" She repeated disbelievingly. "I am not your pet nor your child. I'm an adult and I can take care of myself, but thanks ever so for your concern." Martha spoke snidely.

"Martha," The Doctor said calmly, his earlier expression replaced with an endearing one. It never ceased to amaze her how he could change his emotions so quickly, act as if he hadn't just done or said something completely out of line, and cruel, and how he'd never ever apologize for any of it.

"Don't," She said throwing up her hand as she turned away from him to stare out at John, who was still lying on the scanning table. "You're right though, he may look like you, sound like you, have that big brain of yours, but he is nothing at all like you." Even though she hadn't said it in a malicious manner the Doctor knew she was being unkind with her words, and he also knew he had deserved it.


	2. Chapter 2

He found her out on the balcony, leaning over the railing with her eyes closed, letting the breeze wash over her, and he joined her. "That looks dangerous, that railing may not be secure and you could fall right over." She didn't even open her eyes to acknowledge him.

"I'm still mad at you, just so you know." She said and he frowned at her.

"Why, what did I do?" He asked and this caused her to open her eyes and turn to look at him.

"Oh it's you, of course it's you, it's not he'd ever come out and apologize…" She grumbled and then taking in his confused gaze she softened and gave him a welcoming smile. "I'm sorry John my rants and wrath are not meant for you." She then turned back to stare out over the city. John filled the empty space beside her, and also leaned against the railing.

"Want to talk about it?" He asked casually and invoked a giggle from Martha. "What's so funny?" He asked as he himself chuckled.

"I guess the Doctor's findings are true, you two have very different ways of thinking, behaving, and expressing yourselves."

"Is that a bad thing?" John asked and Martha quickly shook her head no.

"No, not at all." She said with a smile and he smiled back, relieved.

"What else did he find?" John asked curiously.

"Didn't he tell you?" He shook his head.

"No he's in the 'Sherlock Holmes' mode right now, and when we're like that we don't share much until we're 100 percent sure in our findings. That way we don't give the wrong information, that might lead to the wrong decision making." Martha nodded at this, it sounded like the Doctor.

"You two have the same memories and ideology, you just feel differently about them, and react differently to the things you've experienced. You don't seem to have any emotional links, and you're both supremely intelligent. At least that's what I got from the scribbling, your handwriting is quite horrid." She said playfully and again he chuckled.

"I don't fully agree with that," John said and Martha threw him an amused look.

"Have you looked at your handwriting?" She asked and his smile widened.

"That's not what I mean, I'm speaking of the findings. For the most part I concur it seems we are identical in every way, except how we react to situations and people, but as for the emotional aspects, I think we share the exact same feelings, we must. If I were a unique entity with not emotional ties to the Doctor, then I wouldn't miss Gallifrey and my family and friends so passionately, I wouldn't miss Rose," He said and Martha averted her eyes at hearing the name, which John noticed and knew the reason why. "And I wouldn't have such strong feelings for you." He added and she quickly gave him a questioning look. He reached out and with his fingers he pushed several strands of hair that had blown into her face, aside, tucking them securely behind her ear. "These are all 'his' feeling too I'd wager, even if he never says as much. I had to have gotten them from somewhere. The only difference is as you said, the way we react to our emotions. I don't think he'd ever act on most of them he'd just let them lay stagnate, festering; I can't imagine it, having all these emotions and doing nothing to stimulate them. May I kiss you?" He asked suddenly and completely out of the blue. She had been dazed but his words, that he was basically telling her that he 'and' the Doctor had feelings for her, but his last sentence slapped her back to her senses.

"Say, what?" She asked even though she had heard him just fine.

"May I kiss you?" He repeated as he leaning in closer, not waiting for a reply. She held her breath as she noticed him moving in closer and closer, and then she didn't have to any longer, for when his lips finally captured hers she felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her. After a few seconds with their tongues dueling, testing and tasting, the kiss ended and he pulled back a bit, and stared down at her upturned face. Her eyes were still closed and he smiled at her enchanted expression as she slowly opened her eyes and looked at him. "I have wanted to do that since our first kiss in the hospital."

"You said that was nothing except a genetic transfer." Martha replied her mind still a bit hazy. She mentally noted that John was just as much a great kisser as the Doctor was.

"No, the Doctor said that, though at the time he full meant it, but after we got a taste of you," His eyes darted to her mouth and he absentmindedly licked at his lips. "We realized we wanted more." She stood hypnotized for a second before shaking her head to clear her thoughts.

"Please stop," She said softly and he looked at her now worriedly.

"I'm sorry I've made you uncomfortable again."

"Yes a bit." She conceded. "I love him, you do know that, right?" She said and this time John averted his eyes and nodded. "And the things you're saying and doing, I wish…"

"You wish it were 'him' saying it and doing it." John finished for her as he looked at her with pained eyes, and her heart broke a bit because she could see she was hurting him. "He probably never will." He stated and she nodded her head.

"I know that here," She tapped her temple. "But it doesn't change anything here." She then placed her hand over her heart. John sighed heavily as he stared up into the sky.

"Isn't it an awful feeling to want someone you know doesn't want you in the same way. And no matter what you do or what you say, they'll probably never look at you any differently." He asked as he looked directly at Martha, and again she nodded her head.

"Yes it is, but what can you do." Martha said as she sighed.

"You could move on with someone else," John said, now making things solely about her, when he had just been referring to them both.

"I could," She spoke looking directly in his eyes. "But 'that' guy would only be a poor substitute for the Doctor, and that wouldn't be fair to him." She said hoping to convey her meaning.

"What if 'that' guy didn't care? He was willing to take whatever he could get?" He asked with puppy dog eyes and a smile.

"John…" Her words were cut short when John suddenly lurched forward, clutching his stomach.

"Uhhhhhgg," He groaned as a pain gripped him all over. He crumbled to the floor, along with Martha, who tried to steady him.

"John, what is it, what's wrong?" Martha cried out worry etched in her eyes and voice.

"Oh, it hurts Martha, it feels like I'm dying." He hissed out and then squeezed his eyes shut to the pain.

"Doctor!" Martha called out as she cradled John's head in her lap, wiping at his forehead with her hand. "It's going to be ok John, just hold on." He smiled up at her as the darkness slowly over came him. He was consoled by the thought that her face may be the last he would ever see.

* * *

"How long before…" She asked tears already falling.

"A few hours at most," He replied as he watched himself lying motionless in one of the med lab beds.

"There's nothing you can do?" She looked over at him with pleading eyes, as she firmly gripped the hand of the man lying in the bed. He took a deep sigh before replying.

"There's nothing I should do." He answered.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean? Wait…are you saying you could possibly save him, but you're not going to even try?"

"I'm saying I shouldn't do anything. He's an anomaly, he's wrong."

"Like Jack, and so you're going to just desert him too." She said accusingly. "How can you be so cruel? Who made you God almighty?"

"Martha," The Doctor called to her in a gentle tone, wanting to reason with her.

"No, I don't want to hear it. There's nothing that you can possibly say to convince me that doing nothing, why he dies is the better good."

"Martha, he's right." A voice called to her but this time it was John's voice and not the Doctor's. Martha quickly looked over at him and reached out to brush his wild hair from his forehead.

"Shhh, don't talk just rest ok." He shook his head and made an attempt to sit up, but Martha shot her hand out and pushed him back down. "You can't get up, you need to rest."

"I don't want to spend my last hours lying in this bed." John said as he again made an attempt to sit up and succeeded this time.

"Don't talk like that." She said with a frown. John smiled at her warmly.

"Humans, you're so afraid of death, even the mere thought of it, yet from the moment you take your first breath you're dying." John said as he reached out and wiped away a tear that was trying to escape down her cheek. "It's not the same for us, we have many regeneration cycles before we die, so when it finally comes we're ready for it, welcoming it even."

"Right," Martha said excitedly with wide-eyes and a smile. "You can do that thing, regeneration. Like you wanted the Master to do," She directed this to the Doctor, who was still standing at the foot of the bed, his hands stuffed in his pocket, staring at John with a stoic look on his face. He didn't speak but allowed John to explain things.

"I can't, there's no telling what might happened. There is only supposed to be one Doctor, not two. He's right I am an anomaly, and this…the degeneration of my cell is a testament to that fact, it's nature's way of fix things, setting them right again, so there's only one Doctor. If I was to regenerate, and that's assuming I even can, it could have grave ramification to this galaxy, even to your Milky Way. I couldn't live with myself if that happened."

"But you don't know that it will." She tried to reason as the tears fell harder.

"I've been alive for a very long time Martha, and I've seen many things, and I know with every fiber of my being that 'this' is the right thing. I'm not supposed to be here, I can't stay."

"But you promised," She then looked from John to the Doctor. "That I wouldn't lose you." The Doctor still remained silent and stoic as he dropped his eyes to the floor. Martha then looked back to John. "You promised."

"And you shan't, you've still got the Doctor," John said with a smile, as he patted her hands which still gripped his. "Now help me up. If I've only got a few hours than I want to make the most of them." Martha stood and tried to give her support and the Doctor moved to the side of the bed to help John to stand. He stood shakily.

"Are you ok?" Martha inquired with worry in her eyes.

"No woman, I'm bloody dying." He said with a stern look on his face, which quickly melted into a smile, and Martha and the Doctor couldn't help but smile in return, despite the situation.

"You're a riot." Martha said as she sniffled. "What do you want to do first?" She asked as she held him about the waist while he draped his arm over her shoulder.

"First, I need to have a conversation with myself," John answered as he looked to the Doctor who stared back at him inquisitively. "In private." Martha simply nodded her understandings and left the room, leaving the two Doctors to square off.

"What?" The Doctor said as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"You're a damned fool." John replied as he mimicked the Doctor's stance.

"What are you on about?"

"I know how you feel about her." John stated and the Doctor's eyes widened a bit.

"Did you…"

"No I didn't tell her, I know you'd hate that and you'd only end up punishing her by taking her home, and we both know that's not what either of you want."

"I'm just taking her on a little adventure as a way to say thanks, she's saved my life on a couple of occasions and…"

"Oh come off it, that 'one trip' ticket has expired long ago. Your logic is, well it's illogical innit. You don't want her around for the same reason you keep her around. She's not Rose."

"Oh you know nothing abo..."

"Don't I, I'm you, you idiot, right down to your molecules. I loved Rose too and I miss her, but that ache." He paused as he looked down at the floor, though he wasn't really 'seeing' it. "That unbearable ache that was there when she left, it's not so unbearable anymore is it." He then looked back at the Doctor. "And there are days when you don't think about her, when you don't miss her at all, and that's because of Martha. Because Martha's there, she's filled the void in your hearts."

"Martha has not replaced Rose and she never could." The Doctor said and his voice rose as the brims of his eyes turned red.

"No, Martha's not a substitute for Rose, although you've said and done so many things that make her think otherwise. No Martha Jones is one hell of a woman in her own right. She's nothing like Rose and that's one of the things you love about her. So as I said before, you don't want Martha to stay because every second that she does you find something else, even the most minute things to love about her, and that makes you feel like you're betraying Rose in some way. So you punish Martha by pushing her away, but not too far, noooo." The Doctor dropped his eyes to the floor as he listened to his own words. "Because you want her around, because unlike Rose, she questions you, pushes you, and fights you when she wants to be heard. She doesn't do everything you say, just because you say it. You had to earn her respect, that sonic tool of yours didn't impress her that much." They both smiled at this. "But most of all she wants to know you, everything about you, even when you're vague or avoiding her questions, she just keeps at you for the answers. No one had ever bother to before, not even Rose."

"Someday," The Doctor began to speak but then paused to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat. "Someday she's going to leave me. Like Rose, like the others." John nodded his head to this.

"Yes, well that's the nature of the beast. Someday, but that's not today is it. You can't live life like that, trust me I've only got hours to live and I plan on spending them with Martha, and I'm going to hold her and kiss her breathless and show her…" He stared at the wall with a far off look on his face and a smile on his lips. "No, I'm going to tell her how much I love her, because she deserves to know and I don't want someone else I love fading away not knowing, not hearing those words from me." The Doctor simply nodded and remained rooted to his spot long after John had left.

* * *

He found her just after sunset, sitting atop a large hill in the park, located just across the way from the lab. He removed his coat and draped it over her shoulders before taking a seat on the ground beside her. "You ok?" He asked and inwardly kicked himself for asking such a stupid question but it was all he had. She shook her head.

"I just watched you die, you just crumbled to dust and blew away. This is all that's left." She opened her hand, which held what looked to be a pile of sand. She turned her hand sideways and let the sand slide out, to join the rest in the wind. "I know I'm being silly because you're here, right here, but I'll still grieve that bit of you and I'll miss him, John Smith."

"I suppose now I'll have to come up with another name to use, doesn't seem right to use that one anymore." The Doctor said and Martha looked at him gratefully as she threw him a smile of thanks. He wrapped his arms around her and tugged her closer, and she instinctually rested her head against his shoulder. "Did he…say anything before he went?" The Doctor asked wearily, anxiety had filled him since his conversation with John, and with the idea that John would expose the secret he had been keeping from Martha, the secret that he loved her.

"No," She answered in a near whisper. "Mainly he reminisced about our adventures, I got the feeling he was being careful not to expose any of 'your' secrets. I'll admit I did try to coax some things out of him, but he told me that you'd tell me all I need to know, in time." The Doctor smiled a bit and then kissed the top of her head.

"And we've got all the time in the world, don't we." He said as he held her a little tighter and stared out into the star-filled horizon.

FIN


End file.
